


The Art of Chemistry

by Zelinxia



Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Adaptation, Alternate Universe, Comedy, F/M, M/M, Multi, One Night Stands, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-08-31
Updated: 2012-08-31
Packaged: 2017-11-13 05:57:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/500250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zelinxia/pseuds/Zelinxia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All his life Kurogane wanted to have a happy family that entails wife and children. Is that too much to ask for? Apparently that is the case when he meets a flamboyant man who just about changes everything…</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Art of Chemistry

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Badluck Koi (Koi)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koi/gifts).



> The story is based on the boy love manga series 'Future Lovers' by Kunieda Saika. It nearly follows the storyline of the first title, 'Mirai no Kioku', with appropriate changes as needed. To set things clear, it begins with Kurogane dating Umi, but he will end up with Fai little by little.

Umi, Kurogane thought, was perfect.

Oh sure he knew that it was ill-advised to date a co-worker, subjected to being the ill rumors and the talks of everyone, or even worse having to deal with the dreaded awkwardness should a break up occur. At the secondary school he worked at Kurogane had to put up with his foxy boss Yuuko Ichihara, who would shamelessly wink at him in approval whenever he met up with Umi in the mornings and long after classes and after-school clubs were finished and the students left, among many other things. Sometimes he would hear sighs coming from the chairman, as if she was implying that their relationship was unsuitable, but since he technically couldn’t be fired from the contract anyways for dating a colleague Kurogane didn’t give a damn. Besides, Umi was oddly one of the few people he could perfectly tolerate, and that was very, _very_ important because time was running out. 

He needed to marry soon and settle down with a wife and children, establish a normal and happy family with his aging grandparents. It was something all three had thought about for a long time, and in his shrewd and narrowed determination, Kurogane figured that Umi would be perfect. Although they get into heated squabbles far too many times because they both happened to be quite the hot-headed individuals in the school, they still managed to get along. Neither of them could stand being so discreet with their words and mannerisms; instead they were candid in their words and nothing more. No passive-aggression on either end, no need to worry about hiding secrets from each other when in reality one is bothered by something the other has done. Plus, they both even had the same interest of entering medical school when they were younger, except neither of them was able to follow completely through. He ended up focusing on chemistry and enrolled in a credential program to teach that subject while she became the school nurse. It was these things that gave Kurogane a peace of mind that his dreams would and could soon become reality where nothing could go terribly wrong, and when Umi finally asked him what exactly about her it was that he liked when he brought up the proposal out of the blue, he knew what he had to say.

“You never lie and are trustworthy,” he said, rather flatly however, “and I know you will be a good wife and mother.”

Silence existed between them despite the din of the people surrounding them in this luxurious bar. Kurogane waited as patiently as he could for Umi’s response since she was so still that he wasn’t sure what to expect. Blue eyes widened – in surprise, in delight, he didn’t know for sure – but then they flared in anger, and before Kurogane could react, Umi picked up her glass and threw her drink at him in disgust.

“How dare you,” she hissed, getting off of her stool immediately and towered over Kurogane, who remained in his spot, drenched and bewildered, and her volume increased, “you – you insolent, _inconsiderate_ bastard. Don’t you ever care for people’s feelings?” 

“Umi-”

“Good riddance to you, _Suwa_ ,” Umi said, icily, and in full contempt she grabbed her purse and stormed out of the bar. 

Kurogane barely managed to pluck the lemon slice from his forehead before acidic juice could seep into his eyes; not that he needed those to produce stinging effects in his eyes anyways. Of course by then their altercation (more so from Umi’s end) had been heard by the surrounding patrons and several of them whistled and awkwardly laughed at what essentially boiled down to be a train wreck proposal. Great, this wasn’t what was supposed to happen tonight. His pride and his one chance of attaining that dream had been ruined, witnessed by strangers, and in his sorry state of wounds he let out a quiet sigh before uttering a louder growl, not wishing to admit defeat so soon.

“Well I’m not surprised why she reacted like that.”

“None,” Kurogane said through gritted teeth at the bold and rude bystander, “of your damn business.” 

He heard a dry laugh, and in annoyance he finally spun around to face whoever it was that was choosing to pry into his affairs. A slender man was sitting on the stool right next to where Kurogane and Umi were. Blond hair fell nearly past his shoulder and wisps of it framed around his face. His eyes were blue, even crisper than those of Umi’s, and the man was dressed impeccably in denim and a sleek black turtleneck. He twirled the red thin straw in his drink, and with quirked eyebrows he smiled slyly.

“Isn’t it obvious?” he said. “She asked you what do you like about her, and you simply say that she will make a good wife and mother.”

“So, what’s wrong with being frank?” Kurogane countered, wishing that he could just cut this conversation short and leave in peace, or else his headache would worsen. “I don’t _need_ to spin flowery crap to impress her.”

“Wrong,” the man interrupted, and he banged the counter in mock exasperation. “All you implied was that you wanted a woman who’d take care of the house and produce children at your command. Very selfish of you,” he ended, on what Kurogane took as a chiding and a torment at the same time.

It seethed him that he was getting flak from this stranger, a beautiful one he had to admit, when he had no right to interfere. This man didn’t understand where Kurogane came from. Sure, _maybe_ he had unintentionally said his words so poorly that it offended Umi to the point of her abrupt departure, but words were never his forte in the first place. He should be given some slack, and when Kurogane stared back at the blue-eyed man in front of him he only saw flicker of mischief in them.

“Look here, because of this I got wet as well,” the blond said, pointing to the stains dripping from his hair and turtleneck. Well that was something that Kurogane couldn’t curse back at him about. Feeling ashamed, he reached for his wallet, ready to make amends by buying this stranger a drink when said blond put out a hand.

“I’ll just buy you a shot and you will cover the dry cleaning cost, how about that?” 

_What?_ “No – there’s no need to.”

He was too late, however, when the man quickly summoned for two more drinks from the saucy bartender and slid one down to Kurogane. “I – I don’t need your pity,” he hotly insisted. 

“Haven’t you ever heard that it’s okay to drink in your sorrows?” the man said cheerfully. He tugged on his jacket to sit down, which Kurogane did reluctantly. As soon as he reached for the cup the blond bumped their glasses together in cheers. 

He stared hard at it, wondering if this was one of the stupidest things he could ever do in his life for having just accepted a drink of consolation for the first time from someone he had never met before until tonight, not to mention considering he was just dumped by his girlfriend. Kurogane could feel the leers from the blond in unwanted encouragement. Aggravated, he clenched his glass tighter.

“Fuck it,” he declared, and proceeded to drain the content down as fast as he could.

* * *

He woke to a dull throb pounding in his head. It wasn’t as bad as past hangovers he encountered, but it certainly wasn’t comfortable. When Kurogane opened his eyes at last, he nearly shut them again from the overhead lights that were blinding him. The ceiling fan was on as well, whirring steadily. It was only April so it wouldn’t be hot yet, so he wondered why it was on in the first place when he felt quite chilly. Forcing his eyes to stay open he finally surveyed the room – and realized he did not recognize the place at all.

The unusually soft bed he woke up on was designed to fit two people. There were no signs of other furniture, saved for a bedside drawer to the right with small bottles propped on top of it. His eyes froze when he read the labels from afar, and after casting eyes over the walls that were decorated with rosettes it dawned on him that he was in a _love_ hotel. 

To make matters worse, his jacket and both shoes were missing and his shirt was completely unbuttoned. He immediately examined his neck and jaw areas for any lipstick stains or other telltale signs of foul play, but he did not run into any. Yet at the same time he thought he had went for the worst and had ran off with a stranger, another woman, and had somehow ended up here of all places tonight. Yes, Umi had left him in fury but that didn’t give him any excuse to rebound too soon. Just how much did he have to drink afterwards?

“Ah, you’re finally awake!”

Alarmed, Kurogane fidgeted. He gripped the stray sheets and in the process fumbled and fell back on the bed. That voice, that laughter – it was familiar and yet it didn’t make any sense why he ended up with him in a place like this. The same stranger who had chastised him and yet treated him to drinks had just exited the adjoining bathroom. Steam poured out from behind him as he rubbed a towel vigorously through his hair. He was in a thick bathrobe, and he smiled slyly as he dropped the towel on the floor and came towards Kurogane. Still-wet hair clung around his face, partially covering his eyes, and as he approached closer Kurogane could smell the scent of pine perforating from him. He couldn’t believe it. Even though he was relieved he didn’t end up staying overnight at a love hotel with another woman ( _what would Umi think?_) it still felt wrong that he was partially undressed. And this man?

Well, he was practically _naked_ , except he was robed. In the absence of his dark turtleneck Kurogane could clearly see the man’s neck, not to mention parts of his chest. It was pale, of course, much like his overall complexion, and yet it looked so soft and so smooth that he inexplicably had the desire to run his fingers over it. The thought shocked him and he swallowed hard. ( _It’s just the alcohol, it’s just the alcohol_ ). However, no matter what he thought, it was clear as hell that he was stuck in a predicament where this man had not only reached out to console him, but was also propositioning him. Unsettled as Kurogane was, he still could not keep his eyes off of the exposed skin laid bare in front of him as this man finally reached the bed and went on all fours.

“I would ask you if you’d want your turn to take a shower,” he said, and Kurogane swore he was _purring_. “But you’re fine already.”

He started crawling on his knees towards him. In an attempt to avert his gaze from the tantalizing piece of bare neck looming closer to his grasp, Kurogane cast his eyes in any random place, anything but there. To his horror however, they have landed on the man’s leg, and just as he had done so, the hems of the robe pulled up to reveal milk-white thighs, barely stopping just short of revealing more. 

Just his luck.

His heart was beating abnormally fast and he felt the flush creeping in his cheeks at an alarming rate. Gods know by now he should have said or done something to get out of this situation and stop the person before him from advancing further; but just like a bird helplessly attracted to a shiny object high from the sky he could not pull himself to look away from all the obscene amount of skin being presented to him. Sure the buzz of the alcohol still lingered, but in his increasing moment of awareness of what the devil was going on he chose to move his eyes away from those scandalous thighs at last and incidentally landed to lock right on those impossibly bright blue eyes. Something was really out to get him, probably for that train wreck proposal earlier tonight.

“Hello,” he purred, with a matching cat-like grin. Kurogane blinked.

“Hi,” he said back. To his humiliation however, instead of saying it as firm as he had hoped to, it ended up being a squeak. 

This was ridiculous. He shouldn’t be having a teenage moment, not like all of his students who were acting stupid and hopeless when the spring season was at its finest peak. But he was, and in his burning shame he had left himself vulnerable to the blond looming over him, still bearing that cat-like grin. The same laughter from earlier greeted him, and in stunned silence pale fingers found their way around his neck, dancing across his jawline just as he leaned in and brushed their lips together. 

If he thought it was impossible to have a skyrocketing heartbeat, he was wrong. His pulse thundered as fingers started trailing down his bare chest and went underneath the shirt, rubbing an erect nipple in a slow, circular motion. He then felt a tongue pressing on his parted lips and in complete shock he had opened his mouth and unwittingly let him inside. Much to his surprise it was not sloppy. Instead he felt his tongue being led by the man’s, bridging their mouths even closer to feel and explore with the lingering heat and warmth leaving him _wanting_. Kurogane could feel his cheeks flaring up in flames, and to his mortification he felt heat in _other_ places, pooling in an increasing concentration. Somewhere in his inebriated state he was fighting to back out from the man’s sudden advancement, but with the combination of lingering alcohol and his unexpected arousal Kurogane had found himself in a doomed trap.

He finally pushed on the man’s chest (which was still covered by the robe, _thank goodness_ ) and they broke apart. They both gasped for breath, and in the corner of his eyes Kurogane could see the blond flushed as well, but still sporting that same, wicked cat-like grin; which he hurried to look away from.

But the interruption was too late. He had just kissed a man. No, the thing that was bothering him was that it was good, _too good_. In the span of less than one or two minutes Kurogane had become too aroused, begrudgingly faster than any other time previously. Adding to his burning shame was the awareness that his pants were rather too tight at the moment. He wished nothing more to leave this bed, to leave this man and room to finish off on his own in privacy with what was left of any dignity he thought he could possibly have left. Yet as if everything in the last four hours or so had indicated, nothing was going out the way he wanted it to be for, sure enough, the man must have been reading his mind when Kurogane witnessed in horror as he went to undo his belt.

“Someone here is very hard already,” the man teased, causing Kurogane to blush furiously.

“Don’t you _dare_ –” he started to say, but his words were immediately drowned when the blond man went down on him.

He could feel his heart pounding and blood flowing away from his head as the seductive stranger commenced on sucking, ministering his tongue along the way and quickly inching his _wet_ and _warm_ mouth further and further ( _did he have no gag reflex?_ ) until Kurogane forced his hand on the sheet and barely suppressed from moaning loudly. 

“I – _ngggh_ – said stop it – _hurggggh_ – already.”

“Stop being so uptight,” the man said at last, after pulling away. “Besides” – he swept his fingers, partially wet with pre-cum, and sucked on them, much to Kurogane’s aghast expression – “you need to loosen up.”

He started pulling down Kurogane’s pants, pushing himself up with one knee and splayed it on the teacher’s abdomen as his robe shifted to reveal the rest of his inner thighs. Right in front of Kurogane’s eyes he pushed his own fingers inside himself with ease. He bit on his pale lips and moaned loudly, sending unexpected shivers down Kurogane’s spine when at last he repositioned himself right on top of his hard length and mounted.

It was fast and rough, and it felt so _strange_ – but he was so warm and _tight_ and it felt _good_ and Kurogane was even _bucking_ his hips and the man was _flushed_ with his breath so hitched. The man was so loud, sweat perspiring down his sun-silk hair and sticking to his temples, tantalizing tongue darting out of his partially open mouth as he spread his hand inside his robes and started rubbing his nipples, feeling himself and getting harder. The sight of him in pure ecstasy and milk-white skin exposed to all, the smell of sweat, sex, and herbal pine and the warm, _burning_ feeling inside of him flared his belly. No matter how much his mind was spinning from _lust_ and _need_ all eyes were still on the blond as the man took it upon himself with his hands to finish both Kurogane and _him_ off until they lost themselves together.

He then felt it – a pool of warm seed spilling across his stomach. Dazed and submerged in his own beads of sweat, Kurogane caught his breath until blue eyes locked on his once more. He was breathing hard as well, but something in those eyes of his still had that same flicker of mischief from earlier, pulling him in a locked, paralyzed gaze until he felt the man’s lips kissing him again.

 _Impossible_ , he thought, kissing back, tongues meeting halfway. Never had he met someone so smooth, so _passionate_ in bed until tonight. Kurogane could feel fatigue wearing on his body – but this man, he was still pursuing. He was still inside him, so tight and warm and needing that Kurogane could feel the man’s pulse quivering. More alarmingly he still felt a small pool of heat burning away below his belly. More, he wanted _more_.

_No, it’s just the alcohol, it’s just the alcohol._

“Dammit,” he said out loud, giving in. In retaliation he pushed the man off and quickly pinned him below, ignoring the startled cries from the others.

He resumed kissing him, deeply, openly, pushing one hand underneath fine, silky hair ( _so soft, so smooth he barely stopped himself from thrusting harder_). His tongue trailed down the thin, smooth neck, kissing roughly in a sensitive spot that caused the blond to moan, pushing, grinding his hips harder, quicker. 

“That’s it,” the man encouraged, digging his fingernails deeper into Kurogane’s forearms, “you got this.”

Kurogane shouldn’t be doing this, shouldn’t be catering in to the man’s debauchery when his full sense of dignity had already been washed down the drain ever since Umi had angrily left him alone at the bar. But he didn’t give a damn – and it was only for one night, with a stranger anyways.

Tonight, he caved in.

* * *

His grandparents Shizuka and Kohane were sitting around the table and helping themselves to breakfast when Kurogane returned to the family’s temple the next morning and announced his homecoming. He tried his best to look normal and presentable, as if nothing radical and wild had happened the previous night. In honesty, it was a foolish mistake on his part to drunkenly engage in a series of passionate one night stands with a male stranger, but he was truly glad to keep that something that would only happen once as a secret, and nothing more.

“Ah, we were wondering where you have been,” Kohane said, setting down her chopsticks to set a place for Kurogane.

Quickly formulating an excuse, Kurogane said, “I had too much to drink with my co-workers so one of them insisted I stayed overnight.”

His grandmother paused, but then nodded her head, buying his lie. His grandfather, on the other hand, calmly set down his teacup with ease, then pointed to his neck and said, “You have a mark there.” 

Mortified, Kurogane covered the bite mark the blond man had left on him with his hand. He couldn’t help but start blushing furiously, quietly agitating as he turned around as to not show his burning face. Well, so much for cleverly hiding any evidence that he had fooled around last night from them. Behind him, he could hear Kohane laughing softly. When he had the courage to face them again, he noticed how his grandfather was smiling, laughing behind it. And yet – maybe it was the trick of the light playing on him – he caught something sad in his eyes. Before he could assess that further, his grandmother spoke up.

“Kurogane, dear, you should invite this girl over here someday. You’re twenty-five now, and it’s not unusual for a man your age to seriously consider marriage. I don’t mean to frighten you, but your grandfather and I don’t have much time left here.”

“Grandma,” Kurogane exclaimed, alarmed, “don’t say things like that!”

“Calm down,” Shizuka said. He sipped some more tea and ate another morsel of dumpling before resuming. “To spare the pain of being alone after we die, you should find yourself a wife.”

“Yes,” Kohane said, stepping in, “it would be really lovely to see our great-grandchild in our lifetime.” 

It was another somber reminder that time was running out. The three of them had been through this conversation many times that Kurogane had lost track. Rubbing his neck absentmindedly, he assured them that he perfectly knew and that it was what he had wanted all along as well. Although he could not tell them that what really happened last night was far from being too cozy with his girlfriend, he knew nothing was final for sure. As long as no one else knew about his debauchery, nothing could severely hold him back.

Yes, it wasn’t too late. He would make sure to be on good speaking grounds with Umi again when school resumed Monday and make amends, putting himself back on the path towards achieving his and his grandparents’ dream.

* * *

The start of another school day was just about the same as always. Kurogane would wake up before the sun rise and head out to his father’s old dojo – which was conveniently located next to the family’s temple – to do some warm ups with kendo. Although he wasn’t as devoted to the discipline as much anymore ever since he went to university and especially since he became a science teacher, he still made time to pick up his old wooden sword and worked with it to ease his mind for the coming day. Besides, he was responsible for advising the academy’s kendo club, and it wouldn’t do much for him to stand idly by being so rusty in the practice himself. He’d then quickly bathe before joining his grandparents at the table for a quiet and pleasant morning meal, chewing his food rather absentmindedly before placing his chopsticks down and bidding the two a sincere farewell as he head out for a brisk walk to the academy. 

Today was also another fine spring day, and despite the mishaps from a few nights ago, Kurogane felt refreshed, if not determined to speak to Umi first thing when he arrived at work. Sure enough, the school nurse happened to be in the large teacher’s lounge when he entered among the company of other teachers milling about, catching up on news and gossip. Her long hair was pulled up into a tight and neat bun, compared to having it down and curled on their disastrous date two nights ago. She clutched a clipboard close to her, jotting down quick notes in her tidy handwriting, acknowledging Kurogane rather quickly before looking back down to her task at hand. 

He would have preferred that they were alone, rather than have many other colleagues lounging around and pushing their greedy noses into their own affairs, but he would have to ignore their presence as much as he could for now. 

“Hey.”

“Yes, Suwa-sensei?” she said coolly, lowering her clipboard.

If they were truly alone, he would have disregarded formality between colleagues at this establishment. However, they weren’t, so he held back his tongue from spewing rather hot words and instead said, “Listen, I think we need to talk. After school.” 

Umi stared at him for a bit as if she were accusing him of being an idiot. “I believe we had already settled on this two nights ago.” She then resumed to her notes, nose bent intently away from his attention.

Sometimes it was cumbersome for both of them to be hot-headed and stubborn, he thought, much to his chagrin. He shut his mouth afterwards, refusing to say anything else or pursuing further. He would have to change tactics later in the hopes of making amends with her. 

Meanwhile, the science teacher heard fervent whispers coming from the two secretaries nearby.

“Suwa-sensei must have upset Ryuuzaki-sensei,” said the one named Maru. 

“Yeah,” whispered the other one named Moru, “Ryuuzaki-sensei doesn’t look happy around Suwa-sensei.”

Kurogane curled his fist in his pocket, silently fuming. It was bad enough that he had to put up with his interesting boss on a nearly daily basis, but her two secretaries were just as notorious. Although they were extremely loyal to Yuuko and did their secretarial duties with great care, they were really a gossipy pair. In the early mornings or during lunch breaks, Kurogane would often see them behind their desks, chattering away – and even filing their nails sometimes! Other times the chairman would come out of her office, sitting in the presence of them, and together the three of them mulled over the latest happenings of the academy. It was a wonder how he had been able to put up with her over many faculty meetings and classroom visits, but deep down, he was indebted to his boss a lot. She hired him in near, earnest sympathy when he was fresh out of school, something other potential employers were not willing to put up with despite his urgent situation.

“Fine, I’ll just head to the lab now then,” he sullenly informed.

Kurogane grabbed his briefcase and started to ( _politely_ ) storm out of the lounge when the boss herself burst in, bejeweled spectacles dangling from the tip of her nose, put up a hand up in the air, and said, “Not so fast. Everyone, I’d like you to meet our new art substitute teacher. Come in now, don’t be shy…”

Regardless, he still headed for the door, knowing that he would still see this new substitute before he left the place.

“Hello, everyone-”

That voice – it sounded familiar. Yet it couldn’t be…

“-I’m Flourite-”

Kurogane turned his head, and saw a flash of blond hair, blue eyes, and red glasses.

“Fai Flourite at your service.”

**_BAM_ **

Too shocked, Kurogane had missed the exit and walked straight into the door frame, smashing his nose and dropping his briefcase that unfortunately landed on his toes. He recoiled, pressing a hand over his bloodied nose. In the background, he heard murmur of concerns and ignored the same look of shock coming from the new colleague’s face as he wobbled around. Kurogane heard the familiar footsteps of Umi coming towards him, her face having completely changed as she handed him a handful of tissues.

“Pinch the bridge of your nose.”

“I know,” he hissed, although his voice was thick with the amount of blood spurting from his nose. Kurogane grabbed the tissues and did so, blocking out everyone else around him as he reluctantly followed Umi to her office to get cleaned up.

“Did you see that? Suwa-sensei looked at Flourite-sensei and ran straight into the door like that.”

“Strange, isn’t it? Flourite-sensei caught Suwa-sensei’s attention in a strange way.”

For gods’ sake, would they ever _shut up_?

* * *

After applying many pressure and cleaning up the mess around his face and on his clothes, Kurogane had sought Fai outside of the hallways and hastily asked the new art substitute to have a private conversation with him on the school’s rooftop. There, the only eavesdroppers were the birds and the other incessant background noises were from the students filing in at the entrance. However, Kurogane still had cotton balls stuck up both of his nostrils in an attempt to finish stemming his bloody nose before homeroom could even start, and so for now he had to make do talking in a funny, thick voice – the humiliation – especially since he ran into the door because of Fai in the first place!

“I think I know what Suwa-sensei wants to say,” the blond said, amused, leaning back against the concrete wall.

It was strange, Kurogane thought, the way Fai was acting a bit more…formal. His hair was tied up in a neat ponytail, and his glasses gave him a more mature edge. Maybe it had to do with his sober state, compared to the few nights ago when they were both still drunk.

“You don’t want anyone to know what happened between us that one night, right?”

Knowing that he didn’t need to say much, Kurogane nodded. In response, Fai laughed, nervously however, and in doing so he started playing with his hair, twirling it absentmindedly. Once again, it was so unusual to see the man so agitated, considering just two nights ago he presented himself so bold, uninhibited and naked, and leading the night for both of them so passionately.

“I understand,” Fai resumed. He had stopped fidgeting by then. “There’s no need to get in trouble. I just got a job here and all, so it’ll be for the best and all.”

So there was a mutual agreement. Kurogane nodded again, and then said, “Good. Now that’s settled, I’ll be heading back.” 

Just as he headed for the rooftop exit, Fai said in a much more cheerful tone, “So, is everything good with the school nurse now?”

The science teacher froze, and considering that his dignity was already ruined by his embarrassing moment of collision earlier that morning, he pressed a fist against the wall and supported his head against it. Kurogane had nearly forgotten that Fai had witnessed Umi walking out of the bar that night, and of course he would easily recognize that she was the one and only school nurse. This was the problem of dating a co-worker, and now he was _really_ getting it.

Fai started laughing and went right next to Kurogane. “Really? Even for her, who was rather nice enough as the nurse – and also, _girlfriend_ – to help you with your nose bleed, it’s not resolved?”

“Shut up,” he snarled. “And not a _word_ to her, you hear me?”

“Ahaha, of course~” However, Fai grinned, a feral one, much like the one he did in bed two nights ago, although of course it was not the same. “And yet…” 

Kurogane nearly gulped. “What?”

“It’s just. Hmm, how do I put it? It’s strange and all that Suwa-sensei is so bashful, considering you must have _enjoyed_ that night…”

“Can it, will ya?!” Kurogane interrupted hotly, turning bright red. “Do you want me to start bleeding _again_?”

“… After all, three times,” Fai said with a smirk. “Three times in _one_ night.”

It took a lot of effort to keep his goddamn heart rate at a good level or else his veins would burst again and he’d have to shamefully go back to the Umi’s office for more tissues and cotton. Finally, he got his steely nerve back to retort.

“That’s just only once and will be the _only_ time,” he spat back ( _ignoring the memory of how it felt, hot and warm and good it was that night_). Kurogane started regulating his breath. He did not need to be out of steam when homeroom hadn’t even started yet!

“There’s no way it would ruin what I’m going for,” he continued, before he could stop himself. “I just want things to be normal and have wife and kids. Is that too much to ask for?”

“No,” Fai said, sharply and so suddenly. Kurogane stopped agitating, and looked at the blond, wondering how on earth he could go from silly to serious in the blink of an eye.

Fai smiled, but something was a bit off about it. Maybe it was just Kurogane’s imagination.

“You’re right. It’s normal, at least for you, but…” He laughed again, pushing his glasses up his nose, and then looked off the rooftop wistfully. 

“But for someone like me, I could never dream of something like that.” 

“… Oh.”

“Anyways, it’s getting late. We should head back.” 

Fai started for the exit, with that same smile on his face. “Let’s just forget about that night, eh, Suwa-sensei? Strangers that time; but starting today we have just met each other.”

Kurogane did feel relieved that Fai understood. But at the same time, he frowned, not sure knowing why. He nodded, and waited for the other to descend the steps before heading back, mulling through what had just happened in the last hour.

There was a clear distinction between the two men – which Fai had made absolutely certain. But there was something about his sudden change in his demeanor, and that smile…

Was it possible that he had hurt Fai’s feelings?


End file.
